LeBron James Superior To Michael Jordan By 'Big Margin', Rockets GM Says

LeBron James is the NBA's greatest of all time (GOAT) by some margin over Michael Jordan according to Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey.

The James vs. Jordan debate is one that has been a constant over the past few years with some arguing that the latter is still the GOAT due to his six championships and six MVP awards with the Chicago Bulls — notably having a 100 percent winning record in each of his Finals appearances.

However, in recent years, many are now opening up to the idea that James is the new GOAT. The new Los Angeles Lakers star is still playing at the highest level at 33, is continually breaking records and has appeared in the last eight NBA Finals in a row.

In addition, he is expected to surpass Jordan's points tally in the upcoming 2018/19 season. However, his detractors mainly point to his losing record in the NBA Finals, having won just three championships in nine appearances, as a big factor as to why he cannot surpass Jordan and take the unofficial accolade of being the GOAT.

Morey though, believes James has already surpassed Jordan. The Rockets GM has a background in computer science with an emphasis on statistics, and has used analytics to help his team, with the results bearing fruit in the 2017/18 season, when the Houston franchise finished as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with the best regular season record.

From a statistical point of view, James is already better, but even without statistics, Morey believes there's "a bit of a big margin" between the former and Jordan as of now, which is bound to cause some debate.

"You look at his [James] ability to generate wins and championship probability over time, and you basically break that down. You don't need all the numbers. You can watch as well and see that," Morey said Wednesday, as quoted on ESPN.

"But if you basically isolate that and also look at the career he's had, frankly I think at this point it's become a bit of a big margin, actually, where he's come out ahead. I know that's a little controversial."

Despite the arrival of James to the Lakers, the Golden State Warriors are still the favorites in the West, while the Rockets, who needed just a win to defeat the reigning champions in last season's Western Conference Finals only to lose 4-3, are behind them.

With the Lakers entering a transitional LeBron-led era, Morey is not counting him or the L.A. side out, as he believes James is the greatest player ever. He does, however, expect Houston and Golden State to be ahead of the Lakers.

"I would expect, I hope, that we're ahead of them and I would expect Golden State to be ahead of them, but I would never count out a LeBron James team," Morey added. "He is the greatest ever in my mind."